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John Calvin on Admission to the Lord's Supper - Dr. R. Faber

Taken
With permission from Clarion
Vol. 48, No. 21 (1999)

Dr. Riemer Faber
is professor of Classics at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

According
to the Heidelberg Catechism, rightful attendance at the Lord's Supper
is the responsibility of two parties: the individual believer and the instituted
church. The initiative of the individual is expressed in the question, "who
are to come to the table of Lord?"; that of the church in the words,
who "are tobe admitted?" While the first question deals
with proper self-examination, the second concerns the duty of the ordained
officers in preserving the purity of the sacrament. This combination of personal
reflection and church discipline in the Catechism was anticipated
in the church order of Geneva, composed by John Calvin and his ministerial
colleagues in 1537. In it we read that the elements should be received "under
such good supervision that no one dare presume to present himself unless devoutly,
and with genuine reverence for it. For this reason, in order to maintain the
church in its integrity, the discipline ... is necessary."(1) Proper attendance at the table results from the execution of individual and
corporate responsibilities.

In preparing for the supper
celebration, the individual is required to examine himself. 1 Corinthians
11:28-29 commands this important self-examination, and includes the warning
that he "who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment
unto himself." To prove others, however, is not the duty of the individual.
Calvin notes that Scripture does not "bid us investigate whether there is
anyone in the multitude whose uncleanliness pollutes us (Institutes 4.1.15)." About admission to the table he writes: "individuals ought not to
have the authority to determine who are to be received and who are to be rejected.
This cognizance belongs to the church asawhole and cannot
be exercised without lawful order (4.1.15)." In other words, while every believer
must be certain that he partakes of the elements in a worthy manner, it is
also the task of the overseers to ensure that the body and blood of the Lord
is not profaned. This distinction does not imply that Christian discipline
is of no concern to the individual; rather, while the responsibility for discipline
is individual, the exercise of it at the table is corporate. To maintain the
purity of the sacrament, the individual and the church have respective duties.

"Each
individual in his own place must prepare himself to receive [the sacrament]
whenever it is administered in the congregation"

from Calvin's Short Treatise on the Holy Supper

Colossians 1:24 teaches
that the church is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church and Christ
are one, writes Calvin, since "Christ will not and cannot be torn from His
church with which He is joined by an indissoluble knot, as the Head to the
body."(2) Therefore
"no one can bow down submissively before Christ, without also obeying the
church."(3) Of course it is the Lord Jesus Christ who alone gathers and defends his church,
yet as the Head, He exercises his authority through the body, his church,
to which He has granted the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matt 16:19; 18:17-18;
John 20:22-23).

According to Calvin, the
first goal of ecclesiastical authority is to promote the glory and honour
of God, which is illustrated in the celebration of the sacrament (Inst.
4.12.5). The church must exercise oversight especially at this occasion, Calvin
writes, for the body of Christ "cannot be corrupted by such foul and decaying
members without some disgrace falling upon its Head (4.12.5)." Scripture commands
God's people to be holy as He is holy. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 instructs the congregation
to remove the old leaven of malice and evil, and "to celebrate the festival...
with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Therefore, the 1537 church
order states, "it behooves us to be on our guard that this pollution" of unworthy
attendance at the table, "which abounds with such dishonour to God, be not
brought amongst us by our negligence (50)." This does not mean that the table
cannot be disgraced by hypocrites like Judas - it is the serious warning to
self-examination which reminds such people that their false speech and behaviour
are known to their omniscient Creator and their own hearts. The scope of corporate
discipline does not reach beyond public profession and conduct.

"If
there is nothing in heaven or earth of greater value and dignity than
the body and blood of our Lord, it is no small error to take it inconsiderately
and without being well prepared."

from Calvin's Short Treatise on the Holy Supper

Calvin writes that discretion
in admission to the table should be exercised "through the jurisdiction of
the church"; the sacrament "may not be profaned by being administered indiscriminately"
(Inst. 4.12.5). Therefore, great responsibility rests upon the ordained
officers who must be "of sound doctrine and of holy life, not notorious in
any fault which might both deprive them of authority and disgrace the ministry
[1 Tim. 3:2-3; Titus 1:7-8] (4.3.12)" of the word and sacrament. For the minister
"to whom its distribution has been committed, if he knowingly and willingly
admits an unworthy person whom he could rightfully turn away, is as guilty
of sacrilege as if he had cast the Lord's body to dogs (4.12.5)." The Heidelberg
Catechism observes that if those are admitted to the table whose confession
and life reveal ungodliness, then "the covenant of God would be profaned and
his wrath kindled against the whole congregation (Q.A. 82)." Since the consequences
of unlawful participation in the sacrament are so dire, the Genevan church
order concludes that "it is necessary that those who have the power to frame
regulations make it a rule that they who come to this communion be approved
members of Christ (50)."

Approved members of Christ
are those whose confession and life show that they belong to him, that they
"participate in his body and blood" in faith. Christ instituted the supper
only for his believers, to confirm the faith of those who by grace have been
saved through hearing his Word. Since the sacrament is the "word made visible",
it reinforces the gospel. Therefore, unlike the sacrament of baptism, which
may be administered to those who do not understand, God "does not similarly
hold forth the Supper for all to partake of, but only for those who are capable
of discerning the body and blood of the Lord, of examining their own conscience,
of proclaiming the Lord's death, and of considering its power (Inst. 4.16.30)." Since faith is a prerequisite for admission to the table, he whose
confession and conduct reveal that he is unbelieving "should for
a time be deprived of the communion of the supper until he gives assurance
of his repentance (Inst. 4.12.6)." Martin Bucer, the main author
of the church order of Cologne, notes that the Lord Jesus "celebrated the
supper only with the twelve and only after he had preached so much; He did
it only once, for which reason we assume that the Lord's supper should only
be celebrated by those who submit entirely to Christ, confirm to have a thorough
knowledge of the evangelical doctrine, fully believe this, and do not publicly
prove the reverse."(4) Since only approved members of Christ may approach the table of the Lord,
the ordinances of Geneva (1541) state that on the Sunday preceding the celebration,
announcement should be made that those who are strangers or new-comers "may
be exhorted first to come and present themselves at the church, so that they
be instructed and thus none approach to his own condemnation."(5) In short, "no one is to be received at the supper unless he first have made
confession of his faith."(6)

"It
is not the office of each individual to judge and discriminate, in
order to admit or reject as seems good to him; for this prerogative
belongs generally to the church, or better, to the pastor with the
elder whom he ought to have for assistance in the government of the
church."

from Calvin's Short Treatise on the Holy Supper

Proper celebration of the
supper promotes not only the honour of God and the purity of His church, but
also the unity which only the members of Christ's body share. This unity is
based upon the bond of love that exists between the Lord Jesus Christ and
the believers through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Heidelberg Catechism states that to eat the crucified body and to drink the shed blood of Christ
means that we are "united more and more to His sacred body through the Holy
Spirit, who lives both in Christ and in us (76)." The bond of love between
Christ the head and the church his body produces a 'horizontal' bond between
the members themselves. 1 Corinthians 10:17 states that "because there is
one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."
Therefore, writes Calvin, as in a "a mirror", so in the supper "we may see
that God not only dwells among us, but that He also dwells in everyone of us."(7) The celebration of the supper manifests the one body of Christ.

The unity of Christ's
body displayed in the supper celebration affects the duty not only of the
overseers, but also of the individual believers. In the process of self-examination,
the believer must ask "whether, as he is counted a member by Christ, he in
turn so holds all his brethren as members of his body; whether he desires
to cherish, protect, and help them as his own members (Inst. 4.17.40)."
The Lord's supper is a feast of fellowship that encourages the true believers
to cultivate charity and concord, as befits members of the one body. The Geneva
Catechism, composed by Calvin in 1537, explains why the unity expressed at
the table concerns also the individual believers: "there could be no sharper
goad to arouse mutual love among us than when Christ, giving himself to us,
not only invites us by his example to pledge and to give ourselves to one
another, but as he makes himself common to all, so also makes all one in himself."(8)

Footnotes

1. Articles Concerning the Organization of the Church and of Worship at Geneva,
1537. Library of Christian Classics, Vol. 22 (Tr. J. Reid), 48. Quotations
of Calvin's Institutes are from F.L. Battles' translation in the Library
of Christian Classics, Vol. 19, 20 (Philadelphia, 1960).

An excellent resource for parents to (help) teach the Heidelberg Catechism to their children, for elders who need to read a Catechism sermon in the congregation, for ministers who need to research a Lord’s Day with a view to sermon preparation, etc.

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